


below water and drowning

by zarahjoyce



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Jon is not related to the Starks, Mentions of Sexual Assault, Modern AU, fic request, idek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 02:48:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19898605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarahjoyce/pseuds/zarahjoyce
Summary: And if the universe conspiredTo meld our livesTo make us, fuel and fireThen know wherever you will beSo too, shall I'll be-  Rivermaya,"You'll Be Safe Here"---To his credit Jon would attempt to start a conversation with her, often asking if she'd already eaten, how she'd been lately, if she needed his help with anything. And of course she would respond to him - she wasn't rude after all - but their topics would soon die down because they had absolutely nothing in common.(she wished they didn't, though. she liked hearing him talk.)---or, Sansa and Jon throughout the years.





	below water and drowning

1\. The first time Robb dragged his friend from school "Jon Snow" home, she couldn't believe her brother's boldness.  
  
While slightly older than him, Jon Snow was _filthy._ He had wounds everywhere and he even _smelled_ \- the way Arya sometimes did when she stayed under the sun too long, but worse.  
  
Mom and Dad were there when the boys came in; an odd look came on Dad's face, and he looked at Robb and Robb said _nothing_.  
  
Mom, meanwhile, took one good look at the boy and immediately told Robb to fetch some of his clothes and give them to Jon to wear - after a long, _loooong_ hot shower, of course.  
  
She took Arya's hand and held her in place, even when the latter wanted to approach the new boy. No one had said it's okay; no one had told them about this, no one had _properly_ introduced him to them--   
  
Later Robb would tell her that Jon's own father was just _awful_ , and that she didn't need to know the extent of that awfulness because she was a girl, and they weren't meant for girls like _her_.  
  
She took a long look at the boy sleeping on the cot set up in Robb's bedroom; remembered the wounds on his legs and his arms.  
  
She didn't need to know, Robb had said, but she could _guess_.  
  
  
2\. Robb brought Jon home so often that the older boy had somewhat become a regular fixture in their house.  
  
So regular, in fact, that she had no second thoughts about offering him her precious lemon cakes - as though he was _just_ like Robb, or Bran, or Rickon.  
  
Jon took a long look at her before taking the cake and eating it.  
  
"Thank you," he said.   
  
(he had _such_ a nice voice, she realized now.)  
  
"You're welcome," she replied.  
  
  
3\. She made it a point to offer him her lemon cakes after that, _especially_ when she'd heard Dad call him an "orphan" and, well--  
  
The dictionary said it meant an awful, _awful_ thing.  
  
"Thank you," he'd always say, even if he almost looked like he wanted to cry.  
  
"You're welcome," she'd always reply.  
  
(poor jon.)  
  
  
4\. After a few years of staying with them - after a few years of the Starks taking care of him as best as they could - Jon had certainly... _changed_.  
  
He smiled more often now, even _laughed_ with them.  
  
He seemed... happier, now. So different from the desolate boy he'd once been.  
  
(it made her happy, too, strangely enough.)   
  
  
5\. Even if she was already in high school, she _still_ couldn't understand why Margaery Tyrell turned a bit-- well, _slinky_ every time they came across Robb and Jon in the school corridors.  
  
There was no other word for it. Marg would act like a _cat_ around Robb, touching and rubbing his arms and giggling even when he said something unfunny - which he often did. And they would go off into their own world together--  
  
\--leaving her and Jon awkwardly hanging around like a bunch of awkward... things.  
  
To his credit Jon would attempt to start a conversation with her, often asking if she'd already eaten, how she'd been lately, if she needed his help with _anything_. And _of course_ she would respond to him - she wasn't rude after all - but their topics would soon die down because they had _absolutely_ nothing in common.  
  
(she wished they didn't, though. she liked hearing him talk.)  
  
  
6\. Then new girl Jeyne Pool started slinking around _Jon._ She clutched her books tighter to her own chest, quietly watching Marg flirt with Robb, quietly watching the other winding herself around Jon's arm and--  
  
She unfriended Jeyne Pool soon after that.  
  
(she never liked that girl anyway.)  
  
  
7\. "Maybe you like _him_ ," Marg suggested one day, grinning like a-- like a _cat_.  
  
She'd balked at the thought. "Don't be ridiculous," she snapped, choosing not to look at her and studying her notes instead. "He's Robb's best friend. He's almost like a brother to me."  
  
(but he's not, _he's not_.)  
  
  
8\. Then one day someone bumped into her - it's that bully Joffrey Baratheon, horrid, _horrid_ little man-child that he was - making her drop her science project to the floor, breaking it into a thousand little specks--   
  
It was _Jon_ who shot out of the crowd, who crouched before her to help gather all the pieces together.  
  
It was _Jon_ who stayed behind, who helped her glue the pieces back to somewhat resemble a volcano again.  
  
"Thank you," she said, soon after it was done.  
  
"You're welcome," he replied, smiling.  
  
(he had such a nice smile, too.)  
  
  
9\. She'd baked him her very own Stark original lemon cake soon after - and watched with quiet delight as he finished each bite of the three slices she gave him after dinner.   
  
Later, when Robb and Rickon had asked for some, she swatted their hands away and told them, strictly, that the cake was _not_ meant for them.  
  
(they were meant only for jon, after all.)  
  
  
10\. Soon, both Jon and Robb graduated, moved on to college - and she realized that she _missed_ him, missed his presence at school, missed his presence even more at home.  
  
Which was odd, because they had never been _particularly_ close, and Arya never moped around the way _she_ did.  
  
  
11\. And then she realized that maybe, _maybe_ Margaery was right and--  
  
  
12\. "How do you do that?" she asked her best friend.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Slink."  
  
Margaery grinned.  
  
  
13\. She did all that was required from her: she learned how to put on make-up, mussed her hair slightly, wore somewhat tighter clothes--   
  
When Robb brought Jon home again, she was ready. Eagerly, she came down from her room to see the two even before they came into the house--  
  
Except they weren't alone. With them was a girl with hair almost as red as hers, clinging to Jon even worse than Jeyne Pool _ever_ did.  
  
Something in her ears roared, loud and ringing and painful.  
  
"This is Ygritte," Jon said, after some quiet moments of just _looking_ at her.  
  
The girl waved, her smile slightly strained, her expression shadowed. "Hi."  
  
"She's my--"  
  
Thankfully, at that moment Robb had slung his arm around her shoulders, leaving her unable to listen to _anything_ Jon said after that.  
  
(she didn't want to hear who the girl Jon's with was.   
  
she didn't want to _know_.  
  
she already did, after all.)  
  
  
14\. "Can my next guy be called a 'rebound' if the guy before him and I _never_ became official?"   
  
"Oh, _Sans_."  
  
  
15\. Harrold Hardyng was handsome. Popular. Attentive. Smart.  
  
He held her hand too tightly at times. Flirted with too many women. Said lemon cakes were too girly for the likes of _him_.  
  
But his presence made Jon uncomfortable, and to her _that_ was enough reason to keep him.  
  
(take _that_ , jon snow.)  
  
  
16\. "He's _not_ good enough for you, Sansa. I don't understand how you--"  
  
"How would you know, Jon? We're never particularly close. Don't act as if you _know_ me."  
  
(his wounded look haunted her _for days,_ damn him.)  
  
  
17\. Then one night, after a _horribly_ uncomfortable dinner where he drunk too much, Harrold drove her back home - and then proceeded to grope her inside his car, _right_ _in front of her own house_.   
  
She tried to fight him off. Tried to get out the door. Tried to escape.  
  
But then he managed to hold her arms behind her while shoving his tongue down her throat.  
  
Never had she felt this type of _terror_ in her entire life. It paralyzed her, made her feel like she was ten feet below water and drowning.  
  
And it would have gone on _and on_ hadn't someone pried Harrold off her, thrown him out into the lawn--  
  
Never had she seen Jon look so _angry_ as he started beating Harrold into a pulp.  
  
Then he was crouching before her, taking her face in between his hands--  
  
"You're safe. You're safe."  
  
"Thank you. Thank you."  
  
(oh god, _oh god_.)  
  
  
18\. Robb took care of what was left of the mess that was Harrold Hardyng.  
  
Leaving Jon free to take her up to her room.  
  
"I'm sorry," she whispered, once she could. "I should've listened to you."  
  
He took her trembling hand in his. "I'm sorry, too. I should've spoken _louder_ about him."  
  
She felt her heart stir as she looked at their entwined hands. Then she withdrew hers from his and said, "Go home, Jon. Ygritte's waiting."  
  
He frowned. "I called her already. Told her I'm not leaving you. She's a big girl; she can handle herself for one night."  
  
She chuckled suddenly. "I don't think your girlfriend would like you hanging around another girl even for _just_ one night, though."  
  
"Girlfriend?" Jon's brows almost disappeared into his hairline.  
  
"Sansa... she's my _sister_."  
  
  
19\. Ygritte Snow, it turned out, was three years older than him.   
  
Jon hadn't known about her being alive at first. Only recently did she reach out and made herself known to him.  
  
"I thought she was dead," he said, looking down at the floor. "I remember her very, very vaguely. I remember my father saying she'd died. Turned out she ran away when she had the chance, and only left me behind because she had no choice." Then he looked at her, tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'll tell you more about her when you're better. If you like."  
  
( _...god._ she's an _absolute_ idiot.)  
  
  
20\. A few days after that - when she _was_ feeling better, thankfully - she made her Stark original lemon cake, and gave him a generous slice of it.  
  
"Thank you, Sansa," he said, eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled at her.  
  
"No," she replied, gathering her courage and taking his hand in hers. "Thank _you_ , Jon. For saving me. I wouldn't have-- well. I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."  
  
"I was only there because I was worried about you," he said softly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Saying nothing, Jon lifted her hand--   
  
\--and kissed the back of it, all the while looking deep into her eyes.  
  
"... _oh,_ " she said, face flaming.  
  
He chuckled at her response.   
  
"You're welcome," he simply said.

**Author's Note:**

> for @good-doctor at tumblr who requested "Jon, in college, gets a girlfriend. Sansa , in high school, is jealous and lowkey starts to drop hints. Modern AU where the stark family is alive and well and Jon is Robb's best friend." Deviated along the way - sorry about that!


End file.
